Wiring device



Nov. 12, 1946. G. B. BENANDER WIRING DEVICE Original Filed April 11, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Gor I B. 2. M

H15 Attorneg.

Nov. 12, 1946. G. B. BENANDER WIRING DEVICE Original Filed April 11, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor George B. Benander,

His Attor-neg.

Patented Nov. 12, 1946 WIRING DEVICE George B. Bcnander, Oaklawn, R. I., assignor to Monowatt Electrical Corporation, a corporation oi Connecticut Original application April 11, 1942,. Serial No. 438,545. Divided and this application April 19, 1944, Serial No. 531,798

3Claims. 1

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 438,545, filed April 11, 1942, issued as Patent 2,362,794, on November 14, 1944.

The present invention relates to wiring devices of the type in which the device is part of the box for enclosing the connections to the power conductors. Such a wiring device is particularly adapted to surface wiring systems, and may be termed a combined outlet and outlet box.

It is desirable that the devices be capable of use in wiring systems using metallic armored cable, non-metallic cable (cable having a non-metallic sheath or armor) and knob and tube open wiring. In the metallic armored cable system, a continuous ground connection must be carried through the metallic armor. In the present invention this is done by means of a ground strap used interchangeably with each of the devices and having clamps for holding the cable and making the ground connection to the metallic armor. In systems using non-metallic cable or open wiring, the ground strap is not necessary and its expense is eliminated.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved construction and arrangement in wiring devices of this type, and for a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the following description and the claims appended thereto.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a top plan view of part of a surface wiring system using metallic" armored power conductors and wiring devices embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the covers of the wiring devices removed; Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the convenience outlet appearing in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the lamp socket appearing in Fig. 1; F g. 5 is a bottom plan view of the pull-chain lamp socket; Fig. 6 is an exploded view of the pull-chain switch; and Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the rosette or junction box.

Referring to the drawings, each of the wiring devices has an elongated base I and a cover 2 both of which may be made of suitable molded insulating, material. The base is provided with screw holes 3 for attachment to a supporting surface and is narrow enough so that it can be attached to the narrow edge of two-by-four framing when used in an open wiring system. Along the sides of the base members are projections I which are of different sizes and which lit in corresponding depressions 5 in the sides of the respective covers. The projections and depressions 4 and 5 insure that the covers are assembled with and properly positioned on the bases for which they are designed. At each end of the device are two openings for armored power conductors. The openings are formed partly in the base and partly in the cover and are blocked by knockouts 6, I, and 8 of different sizes, one or more of which are removed depending upon the size and type of power conductor to be connected to the device. Along the sides of the cover and base at each end are knockouts 9 for use in open wiring. The covers are attached to the respective bases by screws l0 threaded into sockets l I in the base, and when assembled the base and cover serve as an outlet box for enclosing the device and its connections with the power conductors clamped between the cover and base.

When the wiring devices are used with metallic armored cable, the ground connection to the armor is made through a ground strap 12 having screw holes I3 in line with the screw holes 3 in the base so that the ground strap and base are secured to the support by the same screws. The base is seated on the ground strap with its ends confined between upwardly extending flanges ll at the ends of the ground strap. At the top the flanges l4 are bent outwardly to provide horizontal flanges l5 which are suitably indented at IE to provide the lower half of a clamp for gripping metallic armored cable. The upper half of the clamp is provided by a clamping member I! having tongues 18 slidable in slots 19 in the flanges l5 and having tongues 20 extending along the inner faces of the flanges H. The upper clamping member I! at its top is provided with a tapered recess 2| of the same shape as the tapered projection 22 at the ends of the base and cover so the device may be assembled on the ground strap without disassembling ,the clamp. The tongues 20 which project inwardly beyond the extreme ends of the base and cover serve to locate the device on the ground strap. The clamping members are held together by screws 23 extending loosely through the center of the upper clamping The upper clamping member is in- I rounding the upper end of the screw shell. The screw shell is fixed on the upper end of the projection 43 by screws 46 threaded into the projection through a flange 41 at the bottom of the screw shell. Integral with the screw shell is a metal strip 48 connected to a terminal strip 49 by means of a screw 50 threaded through the strips 48 and 49 into the base. The strip 49 at opposite ends is provided with terminal screws I. Within the screw shell is a center contact 52 fixed to the upper end of the projection 43 by a rivet 53 which connects the center contact to one end of strip 54 on the underside of the projection 43. The-other end of the strip 54 is connected by a rivet 55 to a terminal strip 56 provided at opposite ends with terminal screws 51. The socket terminal screws 5i and 51, are at opposite sides of the base. At the center of the base is a terminal strip or bus bar 58 provided at opposite ends with terminal screws 59 and extending up over the top of the projection 43 through a groove 58. The bus bar 58 extends beneath the screw shell 44 and center contact 52 and is insulated therefrom by a strip of insulating material Si in the groove 58 on top of the bus bar 58. The bus bar 58 eliminates the need for jumpers.

The lamp sockets may be provided with a pullchain switch (Figs. 5 and 6) arranged in a cavity 95 in the under side of the base and having contacts 9'! and 98 respectively connected to the lower ends of the rivets 53 and 55. The cavity may be closed by a plate of insulating material (not shown). The contacts 97 and 98 rest on alternate ratchet faces 99 molded in the base. The circuit between contacts 9? and 98 is alternately made and broken by a bridging member 1158 on disk illi rotatable on a spindle i 82 threaded into a hole H83. The bridging member has arms ills projecting through slots M5 in a disk of insulating material Hi6 and terminating in contacts M17. The bridging member is rotated in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 6) through successive on and ofi positions by a member 158 having ratchetteeth 908a cooperating with notches we in the disk Hill. The member N18 is biased in a clockwise direction by a coil spring ii iii having opposite ends hooked over a tang ii i on a washer E E2 non-rotatable on the head of spindle I02 and over a tang M3 on the ratchet member I88. The member I88 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction by a pull-chain ii l extending out through a suitable opening in the side of the base.

The base i of the convenience outlet has a projection 62 at each end of which is a pair of U- shaped Walls 63 receiving terminals 64 and 64a for connection with the prongs of an attachment plug inserted through openings 55 in the cover. The terminals 64 and 84a are respectively integral with terminal strips 58 and 51 fixed to the projections 82 by screws 88 and equipped respectively with terminal screws 89 and it. The terminal screws 88 are for connection with the ground conductor, and the terminal screws ii! are for connection with the live conductor. Extending along the base between the terminals 54 is a bus bar or terminal strip it having terminal screws '32 at opposite ends. The bus bar ii is seated in a groove '58 in the base and is held therein by a strip of insulating material 74 which is clamped under the terminal strips 56 and 51. The bus bar ll eliminates the need for jumpers in the same manner as the bush bar 58 in the previously described constructions.

In the wiring system shown in Figs. 1 and 2,

the incoming power line is a three-conductor cable 19 having live conductors l8 and 88 connected respectively to one end of the teed-through bus H and to the terminal screw 18 and a ground 5 conductor 16 connected to the terminal screw 69. The lamp socket is fed by a cable 8| having a ground conductor 82 connected to the remaining ground terminal screw 89 of the convenience outlet and a conductor 83 connected to the terminal screw 12 at the other end of the bus bar 1|. The conductors 82 and 83 are respectively connected to the ground and live terminal screws 5| and 5! of the lamp socket.

The device shown in Fig. 7 may be either a rosette or a junction box, depending on whether or not a knockout H5 in the cover is removed. At opposite sides of the base are terminal strips H8 and ii! fastened thereto by screws H8. The terminal stripsare provided with terminal screws H9 and H8 at opposite ends and terminal screws 9a and I281; at the center. At the center of the base is a bus bar l2i having terminal screws I22 at opposite ends arranged in notches 823 in bosses I24 which separate the terminal screws H9 and H8. The terminal screws E22 are somewhat higher than the other terminal screws.- Between the terminal screws i22 the bus bar i2! is bent to provide a U-shaped connecting portion the base of which is below the center terminal screws H911 and mm. The drop center construction of the bus bar i2i provides ample clearance between the bus bar and terminal screws Him and H281; to which conductors would be connected when the device is used as a rosette.

In each of the above described wiring devices the device and its enclosing box comprise a complete unit with the openings and clamps for power conductors. The terminals for 'the device are located on opposite sides of the enclosing box, and at the center is a bus bar insulated from the device which, as described above, may be used to feed a circuit through the device without the use of jumpers or other connections. The wiring is accordingly simplified since all of the wiring connections are made to terminal screws.

The use of the devices is further simplified by the conductor clamping arrangement having knockouts 5, i, and 8 for use with #12 and #14 twoand three-conductor metallic and nonmetallic armored cable and knockouts 9 for use with #12 and #14 open wiring. The knockouts 6, i, and 8 are spaced apart along conductor receiving grooves 84 at each end of the base i and cover 2. The knockouts 5 are at the outer ends of the grooves and have surfaces 85 for gripping two-conductor non-metallic cable in sizes #12 and #14. The knockouts l are arranged in channels B6 transverse to the length of the grooves 84 and have surfaces 87 projecting above the grooves 50 84 for gripping three-conductor non-metallic and armored cable in size #14 and two-conductor armored cable in sizes #12 and #14. The knockouts i may be removed by a screw driver or similar prying tool inserted into the space between the knockout and the sides of the channel 86. The knockouts 8 have thin removable sections 88 at the inner edges of ribs 88. The sections 88 form closures for the grooves 84 and when removed provide sufficient space for leading the conductors into the device as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 6. The grooves 84 are shaped to properly grip the largest conductors (three-conductor #12 non-metallic and armored cable for which the devices are designed. By removing one or more of the knockcuts 6, T, and 8, the device may be used with the customary sizes of armored cable. No adjustment of the conductor clamp is required other than the selective removal of the proper knockouts.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a combined outlet and outlet box, a box having openings for power conductors leading into and out of the box, said box having a base for attachment to a support, a projection on the base having a screw shell and center contact mounted on top of said projection, terminals on opposite sides of the box connected respectively to the screw shell and center contact, a bus bar extending over the projection intermediate the terminals and beneath and insulated from the screw shell and center contact, and a cover enclosing the parts on the base and having a part surrounding the screw shell and defining an opening in line with the screw shell.

2. In a combined outlet and outlet box, a box having openings for power conductors leading into and out of the box, said box having a base for attachment to a supporting surface, a support on the base for a pair of outlet contacts, terminals on opposite sides of the box connected to one and the other of said contacts respectively, a feedthrough bus bar intermediate said terminals extending through an insulating groove in the support beneath said contacts and having terminals at opposite ends for connection with a feedthrough conductor and a strip of insulating material overlying said bus bar and being clamped in position by said contacts to hold said bus bar in position. I

3. In a combined outlet and outlet box for wiring with metallic or non-metallic armored cable, a box of insulating material having cable admission openings at opposite ends, said box having a base for attachment to a supporting surface and a detachable cover, bus bars at opposite sides of the base having terminals at the ends for connection with cable led in through said openings, a support on the base intermediate its ends for a pair of outlet contacts, means connecting the bus bars to one and the other of said contacts respectively, a feed-through bus bar intermediate said bus bars extending through an insulating groove in the support beneath said contacts and having terminals at opposite ends for connection with a feed-through conductor and a plate of insulating material overlying said feed-through bus bar and being clamped to said support for holding said bus bar in position.

GEORGE B. BENANDER. 

